Agenda item

Three valid questions on notice have been received for a response at this meeting.

 

1.            Question to the Elected Mayor by Councillor J Wallace

 

"Healthy Start Grants are available to some pregnant women and some families with children under 4 years old, to enable them to buy additional healthy food such as milk, fruit and vegetables, and to get free vitamins, all of which contribute to a healthier lifestyle with long term benefits.

 

The take up in England is around 66% but much higher in Scotland.

Can the Elected Mayor tell me what steps the Council has taken to encourage applications for these grants in North Tyneside?"

 

 

Councillor K Clark responded as follows:

 

Thank you for raising such an important question. The national Healthy Start Scheme is a lifeline for eligible pregnant women and families with children under 4, providing access to good food: fruit, vegetables, milk and vitamins which are so important to give children the best start in life at a time when families are increasingly struggling to put food on the table.

 

The latest data for North Tyneside shows that uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme is 66% as of June 2023.  This figure is similar to the overall uptake of Healthy Start in England, as noted in Councillor Wallace’s question.

 

The Council is committed, along with our NHS and local voluntary and community sector partners, to increasing the uptake of Healthy Start, as part of our joint approach to ensuring every child has the best start in life.  We know that during those very early years, a nutritious diet is essential for growth and development.

 

The Council’s Director of Public Health has recently led the development of an action plan with partners that is focused on raising awareness of the Healthy Start Scheme among our residents and a range of frontline workers to encourage all eligible families to apply.  The Council promotes the Healthy Start scheme through a variety of ways including:

 

-          Our health visitors provide Healthy Start vitamins and talk to families at all key contacts about the Healthy Start scheme and provide practical support for those eligible to apply.

-          We deliver bite size training sessions to a range of frontline staff so that they have the knowledge to talk to families about Healthy Start and can offer practical help with completing online forms.

-          We display Health Start promotional material on the Council’s website, social media and our family hubs and customer first centres;

-          The poverty partnership network has raised awareness of the scheme and we have shared promotional materials to encourage of take up with families on low income through the Bay Food Bank and the Bread-and-Butter initiative;

We anticipate that rates of take up will increase over the coming months as partners work together to deliver the action plan.

 

 

Councillor J Wallace asked the following supplementary question:

 

Whilst I note the steps taken, it is disappointing that the take-up is still only at two thirds of those eligible.  What follow up steps are being taken to encourage people to take advantage of the scheme?

 

Councillor K Clark responded as follows:

 

As you have outlined, we are currently on level with the national picture.  Of course we wish to increase that number hence the action plan that is in place which contains all the elements I have outlined.  That plan is being implemented and we expect that uptake will increase due to this positive action.

 

2.           Question to the Elected Mayor by Councillor M Thirlaway

 

At least 100 people in North Tyneside were denied a vote during the local elections in North Tyneside with potentially many more put off from turning up to the polling stations in the first place. Does the Elected Mayor agree with me that central government should be making it easier for people to vote legally and that compulsory photographic identification at polling stations is unnecessary, undemocratic, and amounts to voter suppression, especially in more deprived area?

 

The Elected Mayor responded as follows:

 

I agree that any change that could act as a barrier to people voting is a concern.  I know there are arguments both for and against voter id, but I do have concerns that this was a solution to a problem that did not exist – nationally, cases of voter fraud have been extremely rare.

Thankfully, our elections staff did everything they could to make it as easy as possible for people to vote – this included the preparation before the election and on the day itself.  Some of this additional activity was funded nationally.

 

However, you will also remember that this Chamber agreed to send a letter to all households to reinforce the local and national advertising campaigns that we had in place.  This was not funded nationally and came at a cost of about £40,000 from North Tyneside budgets - but we agreed that as local democracy is so important, it was necessary.

 

Our electorate is made up of just under 157,000 people. 69% of the electorate is eligible to vote at a polling station, with the remaining 31% having registered for a postal vote.

 

That means 108,000 people were eligible to vote at a polling station.  Our records show that 261 electors applied for a ballot paper but were initially refused because they could not show the required Voter ID.  Of those, 161 returned with valid photographic identification and were issued with a ballot paper. 

 

It is too early to say definitively whether this impacted disproportionally on deprived communities, but I share your concern that this could be the case.  We also don’t know how many voters were put off from even attempting to vote in the first place.

 

So, in conclusion, whilst 99.5% of those voters who attended a polling station did vote – meaning our process was still valid – at least 100 residents missed out on their right to vote.

 

Councillor Thirlaway asked the following supplementary question:

 

Will the Elected Mayor write to the Prime Minister and ask him to repeal compulsory photographic identification at polling stations and to scrap his proposed reforms due in the autumn, and will she share the response with all members?

 

The Elected Mayor responded as follows:

 

I certainly will and thank you Cllr Thirlaway.

 

2.           Question to the Elected Mayor by Councillor L Bones

 

In September 2022 Council passed a motion asking the Mayor to invite the PCC to give an update on progress on her policing priorities annually to Full Council, and take questions from members on the update. This is the last meeting before a year will have passed without an annual update and opportunity to scrutinise the PCC. Can the Mayor confirm whether Ms McGuinness has been invited and declined or hasn’t been invited in the first place?

 

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your question Councillor Bones.

 

I can confirm that I did indeed write to Kim McGuiness, the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner on 30 September 2022, following the motion, to invite her to provide an update on progress with her policing priorities to full Council.

 

Although this was planned to be at this Council meeting it has had to be postponed due to the Police and Crime Commissioner having to undergo surgery on her hand following an accident.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner does want to attend this meeting in person and not send a substitute, which is why we have delayed this. 

 

I do hope that the Police and Crime Commissioner will have recovered in time to attend the next Council meeting on 21 September 2023.

 

In the meantime, I am sure you will join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.

 

 

Councillor L Bones asked the following supplementary question:

 

Can the Deputy Mayor please confirm that the Police and Crime Commissioner will attend the meeting in September should she be well enough, and will she take questions from Members?

 

 

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

 

The Police and Crime Commissioning will be attending the next meeting in September, providing she recovers from her surgery and is well enough.